Special
by DayDreamer95
Summary: Rex's life has been pretty much the same - boring and mundane, being cooped up in Providence all day. That is, until he meets one very special EVO... Please review!
1. Prologue

Well, this isn't my first fanfic, but it's the first Generator Rex story I've done. Sorry the prologue's kind of short, the rest of the chapters will be longer. Please read and review!_**

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Prologue

"Easy does it . . . Steady, now. Steady . . ."

With encouragement and words of warning from his mentor, the young scientist tried his best to steady the trembling hand that held the volatile solution vital to the success of the experiment. Under his mentor's guiding hand, the young scientist was attempting an experiment of his own for the very first time. With nothing but sheer knowledge and years of research on his side, he ventured to do what no one else dared to.

Resting on the perch behind the two was a majestic hawk, preening its caramel-colored wings. Its alert, keen eyes darted around the room, but the bird was calm and unafraid. It was a beautiful creature, with shimmering, light brown feathers that had specks of a sandy tan color on them. This fine specimen was the one to be tested on in this experiment.

The rookie scientist—called so by many others considering his lack of experience—stirred the dangerous mixture, the many flammable and potentially explosive ingredients swirling together. Under the judgment of the novice scientist's advanced intellect, he deemed the solution perfect. He then primed the machine that would convert the solution into rays of highly concentrated radiation.

This scientist was endeavoring for something most claimed to be impossible—gain full control over the elusive and unpredictable nanites. How did he go about this? His theory was that combining the microscopic machines with human DNA would make them easier to control. The solution he just created—after 15 years of research—was an amalgamation of pure, non-infected human DNA and a secret control agent that only he knew about. He was getting ready to infuse this mixture with the nanites residing within the hawk, his first test subject, with the machine he devised for this specific purpose.

It was difficult for him to get his hands on DNA that hadn't been affected by the Nanite Event, DNA that had no nanites in it, but he eventually did. With it finally completed, he could at last test it. He beckoned the hawk to come, and it hopped from its perch onto his arm obediently. Domesticated and desensitized to humans, the hawk was entirely harmless. The man coaxed the hawk into the machine, an easy task. The tricky part came when the hawk wouldn't stay in the machine. The hawk's sharp instincts detected danger, and so it did all it could to avoid the danger it sensed.

The scientist acted quickly, forcing the bird of prey into the machine and shutting the door before it could escape. The hawk screeched and clawed at the door with its talons, trapped within the danger area and desperate to get out. The young scientist pressed the button to initiate the experiment, oblivious to the hawk's distress.

White light flooded the machine chamber, blinding the bird and in turn adding to its terror. It thrashed blindly against the walls of the chamber, slamming into them with a thud, wild and fraught with panic. It cried out in pain as the beams of light shredded into its skin with a pain like it had never felt before, burning as if the sun itself were blazing inside the tortured creature. The intense light singed away the color in the bird's feathers, rendering them pure white. And then, obscured in the startlingly bright light, the hawk underwent an even greater change.

The scientist shut off the machine, and slowly, hesitantly opened the hatch. The light fading away, he and his mentor could clearly see what had become of their test subject. They realized what they'd done with a stunned gasp.

"My God . . . I've done it," the young scientist breathed, amazed. "This is it! It's a breakthrough!"

"Would you look at that?" the elder scientist said softly, still not sure of what he was seeing.

The two scientists rejoiced, but the test subject wasn't so happy. It was quite distraught—its eyes had gained a feral, frightened sheen, and it was trembling with fear. Before either of the men could make a move, the test subject went wild with terror, lashing out and attacking whatever it could. It ended up destroying the machine and the vials that had contained the untainted human DNA. Now the experiment would likely never be repeated. It then fled, tearing a hole in the roof with its now superhuman powers and flying through it.

But soon after it had made its escape, it ran into trouble. And here, trouble was defined as a jumbo jet plane headed straight for it. It had no chance to veer away from the plane, so collision was imminent. The jet struck her, and she plummeted to the earth, landing in some rubble created by an earlier disaster. Thanks to the unnatural stamina and strength it had gained, it did not die. Instead, it lay asleep, waiting for someone to find it . . .

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You'll find out what this has to do with Rex later... Meanwhile, please don't forget to review!


	2. The Target

_**Chapter 1: The Target**_

"_I am a special kind of EVO, the only one of my kind."_

It was just another day for Rex as the teen dragged himself out of bed, wondering why he had to wake up so early every morning. It just wasn't natural, getting up before noon.

Sleepily, he greeted Dr. Holiday with a "Hey, Doc."

"Good morning, Rex," the woman replied, already awake and alert. She was hard at work, even this early in the morning.

"Anything interesting going on?" Rex asked, silently praying that she'll say, "yes" for once. Things had been _way_ too uneventful recently for his liking, and he was itching to be anywhere other than stupid Providence.

"Actually, yes."

That alone was enough to wake Rex up. "What? Really?"

"Yes. There have been several EVO sightings, all centered around one town. They seem to be searching for something there. Only thing is, the town they're at is a ghost town. It was destroyed in an earthquake years ago, and the city's been abandoned since."

"So, you want me to find what those EVOs are after in some creepy ghost town? Cool!" He rushed out the door, eager to slam some EVOs.

"Wait! I haven't even told you where it is yet!"

Rex halted in his tracks. With a sheepish chuckle, he said, "Yeah, I guess that would help, huh?"

o~*~o

Even whilst dragging a grumpy Bobo with him, Rex managed to get to the location where the EVOs were said to be relatively fast, thanks to The Rex Ride, the motorcycle he himself created with the aid of his nanites. "Wow, this place really _is_ a ghost town," he said, taking in his surroundings. Every building was in ruins, a layer of dust coated everything, and there seemed to be absolutely no signs of life here, as if living here were even possible. What could the EVOs possibly want with this abandoned town?

"Ugh, this place gives me the heebie-jeebies," Bobo commented, physically unable to stay silent for more than a minute.

Rex was about to tell the ape to shut up, when he realized there was some credence to Bobo's remark. Rex himself felt uneasy, though he wasn't sure why. The nanites within him buzzed with nervous energy, agitated by some untold force. Even stranger, the nanites seemed to tug at his conscience, pulling him in one direction. Maybe his own nanites would lead him to whatever was drawing in the other EVOs, Rex thought. He chose to follow the instinctual pull of his nanites, letting them show him the way.

Just when he was thinking that, an EVO crept up behind him, but he wasn't about to let the EVO take him by surprise. Forming his B. F. S., he put down the EVO with one slice of the ridiculously large sword. _Too easy_, Rex thought, smirking.

Many of the EVOs there were pretty low-level, so Rex didn't have much trouble with them. But the question still was, why were they here in the first place?

Rex found himself standing in front of yet another pile of unimpressive rubble. _Great, more rocks_, he thought as he looked the pile over. Then he saw something other than rocks—a hand, laying limp under the heavy rocks. Getting out the Smackhands, Rex shifted the rocks aside, taking care not to harm whomever lay trapped underneath.

Beneath all the rubble lay a young girl that appeared to be no older than Rex. She seemed a delicate creature, with her petite, almost fragile-looking frame and her dainty, birdlike features. Her hair, so white it looked as if all the color had been drained from it, flowed down her back and spilled out onto the rocks and debris. Her entire torso was clad in feathers white as her hair and soft as silk to the touch. She clearly wasn't a normal human, but she didn't seem entirely EVO, either. So what was she?

That mattered not to Rex at the moment—what he was concerned about was the girl's health. She was definitely alive, as evidenced by the rise and fall of her feathered chest, but she may have been injured somehow.

"What's this pretty little thing doing here in this spooky town?" Bobo mused with his infamous lack of tact.

"You don't think she could be . . ." Rex tried convincing himself that this girl couldn't be what the EVOs here were after, but his nanites said different. The electrical, excited hum that ran through his nanites buzzed louder than ever, honing in on the not-quite-EVO girl. She was the object of the EVOs' attention. But _why_? Rex didn't think that this young lady could harm a fly, much less tick off some EVOs.

Rex shook away the confusing thoughts. What was important now was to get this girl some help, not the reason she ended up here in the first place. He gathered her tiny body in his arms and carried her away from the eerie ghost town, more than glad to leave the place behind.

o~*~o

Rex took the young woman back to Providence with him, carrying her in his arms the whole way. Still, the girl had not recovered consciousness, and Rex was beginning to worry for her health. But he knew if anybody could help her, it would be Dr. Holiday. He went straight to her.

"I found her in that ghost town," he explained when Holiday gave him a surprised look. "I don't know why, but she's what the EVOs were going after. I think she might be hurt."

"Hmm, that's quite interesting, her being the point of the EVOs' attention," Holiday said, looking at the innocent-looking girl Rex still held in his arms. "I'll look her over. Set her down on that table over there."

Rex did so, gently placing the unconscious girl onto the table. Holiday gave her a brief examination, swiftly but deliberately inspecting the young girl's body with skilled, practiced hands. "There appear to be no serious injuries," she concluded, "just a few scrapes and bruises."

"That's good," Rex sighed, thankful that the girl will be alright.

"Nnnnnhh . . ." came the light moan of the girl. She was stirring, close to awakening. Her eyes fluttered open, gradually coming into focus as she ridded herself of the lingering dizziness and confusion. With her eyes open, Rex could see that they were wide-set and almond-shaped, giving her a somewhat more serious appearance. They were gray, like the color of steel. She sat up, leaning back on her arms for support, looking around and truly seeing her surroundings for the first time. Confusion settled once more in her steel eyes. Then, scanning the room again, her eyes growing wild and frantic, terror appeared on her expression. Though weak and lacking of energy, the girl frenetically struggled to get to her feet.

"Whoa! Hey, calm down!" Rex exclaimed. She may not have been hurt too badly, but she still shouldn't have been moving about.

"It's okay," Holiday said soothingly to the panicking girl. "We're not going to hurt you. Calm down . . . There you go." So as not to add to the girl's distress, the experienced doctor gently, calmly eased the girl back onto the table. "You're safe here. No one will hurt you here."

She was no longer in a frenzy of fright, but fear still held her heart tightly in its icy grip. Her scared eyes darted around the room before meeting and resting on Rex's gaze. Instantly, all the tension slipped out of her, finding comfort in Rex's eyes. Under her admiring, unflinching stare, Rex felt something leap inside him, something beyond the jumping of the nanites in his blood.

"Good, she's settled down. Can you speak?" Holiday inquired, the query directed at the girl.

The girl simply stared at Holiday, head cocked in confusion. She apparently didn't understand Holiday's question.

So Rex decided to try, with a different approach. "Hey! Can you talk, or can't you?"

The girl's eyes lit up with understanding. After a lengthy pause, she managed one word: "Yes."

"Alright! I'm Rex, and that over there is Dr. Holiday. What's your name?"

"Name?" Her eyes clouded over with puzzlement again.

"You know, uh, what you call yourself?"

". . . I know of no such thing."

"Wait, wait, wait. You're saying you don't have a name?"

"Correct. I do not have a 'name.'"

"Okay . . . Then I guess I'll have to give you one. Let's see . . ." Rex attempted to think of a good name for the young lady, but instead drew nothing but a blank. "I'll let you know when I come up with one."

While Rex was occupied with the business of a name for the girl, Holiday was more interested in what exactly the girl was. "You're obviously not human, yet you don't seem to be fully EVO. Might you know? What you are, that is?" she asked the girl.

"I . . . am not entirely sure myself," replied the apparently nameless girl. "But I do have a few . . . unique abilities."

"And what would those abilities be? Would you mind demonstrating?"

"Perhaps later. I am rather tired right now, and would like to get some rest."

"That's perfectly fine. Get all the rest you need."

"Thank you very much, ma'am."

o~*~o

After the girl slept for a few more hours, Holiday and Rex escorted her to the indoor garden within Providence. Holiday thought that the girl might feel less restricted and not as afraid if they were in a more open area.

The girl was very pleased, relaxing and enjoying the bizarre, otherworldly plants. "Now then," Holiday started, drawing the girl's attention away from the strange plants, "would you like to demonstrate your abilities for us now?"

"It would be my pleasure," the girl replied. She then closed her eyes, and her breathing became even and deep as she concentrated. Then, quite unexpectedly to all but the girl herself, great wings that matched her hair and the feathers that covered her torso sprouted from her back. Her fingers curved into a shape that resembled claws, and metal replaced the flesh of her hands, forming deadly sharp claws where her fingers were. Each of the feathers in her wings and on her torso lengthened and sharpened themselves, gleaming silver as they changed to metal, as well. She was no longer a harmless, innocent girl, but was instead a lethal weapon.

"Impressive," Holiday remarked.

"Aha!" Rex exclaimed. "I got it! I know what your name should be!"

"So what should it be?" the girl asked him.

"'Talon.' Your name will be 'Talon.' What do you think?"

"Why 'Talon?'" Holiday questioned.

"Because those claws of hers look a lot like talons. Also she's more like a bird than anything else, and birds have talons, right?"

"Right . . . What do you think of it?" she asked the girl. It's her opinion that counted the most in this.

"'Talon' . . ." the girl repeated, trying out the name. A smile pulled up the edges of her lips. There was something about the way it sounded that felt right to her. "I like it. I like it very much."

"So then it's settled! Talon it is!" Rex declared. "From now on, you'll be called Talon."

The newly dubbed Talon sought Rex's gaze, looking deeply into his chocolate brown eyes. "Thank you, Rex. For giving me a name."

"No problem." Rex looked away, slightly embarrassed by her intense, unblinking look. "So, uh . . ." He couldn't think of anything to say.

". . . I have been concealing the truth from you," Talon admitted, guilt darkening her pale features.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Talon turned to face Holiday, obviously addressing the doctor. "Dr. Holiday, I happen to know exactly what I am. Well, to some extent, I do."

"You do?" Holiday asked, a perplexed look crossing her expression. "Why didn't you want to tell us?"

"I did not trust either of you. I now trust Rex. You, I still do not, but there are ways I can make sure you keep quiet. So, I will tell you. I am a special kind of EVO, the only one of my kind."

"Special _how_?" Rex demanded to know.

"You see . . . I am the world's first—and last—EVO hybrid."

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How's that for an ending? What do you think of my writing style? Just some food for thought... Please don't forget to review!


	3. The Hybrid

_**Chapter 2: The Hybrid**_

_"We'll always be 'friends,' right?"_

"Wait, so you're saying that you're . . ." Rex started, but found himself unable to finish. This was all just a little too confusing for him.

"You're a hybrid?" Holiday finished for him. "Specifically what kind of hybrid?" she asked, genuinely curious. Even with her vast knowledge of and experience with EVOs, never before had she heard of an EVO hybrid.

"Well, I am not entirely sure myself. You see, before I became this—" she indicated her own figure "—I was a bird, so my memory before I took this form is vague, at best. But with what little I gathered from these memories, I can safely assume that I was the test subject of an experiment. I cannot remember much else, other than my own terror and the pain—oh, the horrible pain . . . It was like a million red-hot needles digging themselves into my body." She shuddered at the memory, the image burning her as if she were reliving it. "Anyway . . . I know I used to be a bird, and now I am human. That leads me to presume that human DNA now runs through my veins. So, I am not positive, but I believe that I am half-human, half-EVO. A hybrid."

"That's amazing," Holiday said quietly, breathless with wonderment. "I never would have thought of such a thing, to combine nanites with human DNA like that."

"Awesome!" was all Rex could say.

At that moment, Bobo came in. "Hey, what's with all the hubbub?" he said. He then noticed Talon. "Oh, yeah. The bird girl."

"My name is Talon," Talon said stiffly, her body tensing up. "You would doing yourself a favor if you would remember it. Or can you not, with your pea-sized brain?" It was clear she had _not_ taken a liking to Bobo.

"Hey! My brain's bigger than yours, birdbrain!"

"Call me that again."

"Birdbrain!"

"Why, you—!"

"Break it up!" Rex said, getting in between the bickering twosome. He then turned his attention to Talon. "What's with you? Why do you hate Bobo so much?"

"Yeah!" Bobo interjected. "I ain't done nothing to ya!"

Talon stopped to think for a moment. "I . . . I do not really know myself. It is just . . . There is something about him that gets me riled up." After another moment of thought, the light of remembrance lit up her face. "Ah, I remember now! When I was a bird . . . You tried to hit me with a broom!"

" . . . That was you? Well, you was being pesky, so what else could I do?"

"_Pesky_? Are you calling me annoying? _You _are the one who is annoying! I ought to hit _you_ with a broom!"

"What is going on here?" a somewhat monotonous voice inquired. In came Agent Six, Rex's levelheaded protector. From behind the darkened glasses on his face, he glanced around the room, his gaze falling on Talon. "And who is this?"

"Oh! Talon, meet Six. Six, this is Talon," Rex introduced the two to each other.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Talon said politely.

" . . . Yeah," Six replied indifferently. "Rex, why is this girl here, and where did she come from?" The way she appeared out of nowhere left him more than a little suspicious.

"I found her in some creepy old ghost town, and she—" Rex was saying, when Talon cut him off.

"Sir, I have no other place to stay," she said, her silver eyes downcast. "I have no home. If you could allow me to stay here, for just a little while . . . I would be so very grateful."

" . . . Fine, you can stay," Six conceded. "But don't let me hear that you've gotten Rex into any kind of trouble."

"O-Of course, sir," Talon said obediently, slightly intimidated by the unspoken threat lingering in the silence that followed. Soon as Six left, Talon said to Rex—whispering so as to ensure that Six wouldn't overhear—"He is kind of . . ."

"Yeah, he can have that kind of effect on people," Rex said to her unfinished statement.

"Yeah," Talon said, mimicking Rex. She discovered that she could learn more modern English by listening to and imitating his speech. "Yeah!" For some reason, she really liked that word.

He noticed her copying his words. "Are you sure you aren't part parrot or something?" he said with a teasing smirk.

Talon laughed sheepishly.

o~*~o

Later that night, when everyone else was asleep, Talon was wandering the halls of Providence, both marveling at and cringing away from the many technological wonders. Absentmindedly, she began singing an old song she'd heard once before and had committed to memory:

_Mira la luna_

_Comiendo su tuna;_

_Enchando las cascaras_

_En la laguna._

_Aquel caracol_

_que va por el sol_

_en cada ramita_

_llevaba una flor_

_que viva la gala_

_que viva el amor_

_que viva la concha_

_de aquel caracol._

She realized what she was doing and stopped herself. She didn't even know what she was singing; she didn't understand Spanish. She had just heard it and it stuck in her mind, latching onto her memory and refusing to let go. Talon felt someone's gaze on her back. It wasn't the burning pierce of a glare or scornful look, but rather the gentle caress of kind eyes. She turned around to find Rex standing there. "Rex . . . I-I, uh . . ." Talon stuttered, unsettled at being discovered like this.

But Rex didn't seem to be focused on Talon's presence at all. His eyes were distant, as if looking at something faraway. In fact, he seemed almost . . . nostalgic, like he was fixated on a past memory playing out before his eyes. "_¿Mamí? ¿Eres tú?_" he said in Spanish, baffling Talon.

"R-Rex? Are you all right?" She felt the nervous fluttering of fear, concern, and confusion settle in her stomach.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing." Rex shook his head, clearing away whatever thoughts were distracting him. "I'm fine."

"So . . . You are Spanish?"

"Technically, I'm Mexican."

"Where are your parents?"

"I, um . . . I don't know. You see, I have amnesia. I can't remember anything about my past, or my family."

Talon bowed her head in shame. "I am sorry. I did not know. Wait . . . What are you doing here, Rex? It is late. Should you not be in bed?"

"I should be asking you the same thing."

"I . . . am still getting used to this. Being human. There is just so much that has changed . . . It is like I am seeing the world from a completely different perspective. I could not sleep with all this on my mind. Now, why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep, either. I guess I just have a lot on my mind, too." A drowsy silence fell between the two.

Talon broke the silence after a minute or two, musing aloud to herself, "It is all just so new and strange to me . . ." She gazed out the window, admiring the soft radiance of the moon and the twinkling dots of light known as stars. "I . . . I get these strange sensations. They are like nothing I have ever felt before. For example, right now, I feel . . . warm and bright, like a warm light is shining inside me. It feels good."

"I think you're talking about feelings. Emotions, you know? It's part of being human. And right now, it sounds like you're happy."

"Emotions? Happy?" She memorized these new words. "Happy . . . Yeah, I think I am happy. And you want to know something else that is strange?"

"What would that be?"

"I am always happy whenever I am with you, Rex."

"Um . . ." Rex didn't know what to say to that. "Th-That's . . ." he tried again to say something, anything, but he lost all words when he came under Talon's gaze once more, her gray eyes catching the pale moonbeams and appearing to shimmer in the almost iridescent light.

Talon read the meaning behind his silence and giggled, a smile curving her delicate rosebud lips. This only caused Rex more embarrassment. He turned away, hoping she wouldn't notice the fact that he was blushing. "I, uh . . . I-I think we should, uh, go to bed now," Rex stammered, prepping himself for a quick getaway.

"All right. Good night, Rex!"

"G-Good night, Talon." He left as fast as his feet could carry him.

Talon giggled again, the sound remarkably similar to the chirp of a bird. "Rex . . . You silly boy!"

o~*~o

"Okay, Talon, I'm going to run a few tests on you," Holiday said to her. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not, ma'am," Talon responded compliantly. If her being what she is could help humans gain a better understanding of nanites, she was willing to put herself through these tests, despite her past experience with experiments and tests.

"Great! Now, we just need a little of your blood . . ." As she said this, Holiday withdrew a needle and syringe to draw a sample of Talon's blood. "This won't hurt at all. Here we go . . ." She merely touched the needle to Talon's skin, testing the girl's reaction to the sharp needle.

"NO!" Talon snapped, recoiling away from the needle in fear. She did not cope well with needles, due to her terrifying memories of them—needle after needle poking and prodding her painfully, relentlessly. She stepped backwards, glaring at the thing that caused her so much harm with fearful eyes, her small body trembling at the sight of it.

"Easy, Talon. It's not going to hurt you. It's quick and painless. It'll only take a second . . ." With calm, soothing words of assurance, Holiday coaxed Talon into allowing the needle to enter her skin and extract a small amount of her blood. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I-I guess not." Talon said this, but she still had to struggle to quiet her pounding heart. She didn't think she could ever stand having another needle poke her ever again.

Holiday took Talon's blood sample and injected it into a microscope slide. She then placed said slide into the microscope to examine the blood sample. She looked into the eyepiece, and gasped. "Incredible! This is like nothing I've ever seen! Talon, I think you would like to see this." Curious, Talon came over and looked into the lens herself. She saw a number of nanites drifting about and mingling with her blood cells, the microscopic machines glowing white. "See, nanites typically have a yellow glow about them, or—in Rex's case—a blue glow. But yours are white. I believe you're right about your nanites being infused with human DNA, because I've never seen nanites like these before."

"That is . . . awesome," Talon said, using another of Rex's words.

"Hey, hey! What up, people?" Enter Bobo, the annoying talking ape.

Talon threw him a disgusted look, seeming as if she were physically repelled by the ape's presence. "Hello, dumb simian," she said by way of greeting.

"Hey, birdbrain."

Talon let out a heavy sigh. "I am leaving now."

"Why you leaving so soon, pretty thing?"

It took all she had to not shudder at his blatant attempt at flirtation. "I would rather not instigate another fight with you at this moment."

" . . . Instigate? Don't use such big words, bird lady!"

"Goodbye!" With a huff of frustration, Talon left, walking out of the room. She meandered down the hallway, and, sidetracked by her own thoughts, ended up running into Rex. Ironically, this occurred where the two had met the previous night. "R-Rex!"

"Hey, Talon," he said cheerily. "What's up?"

Taking him literally, Talon looked up. "Uh, the ceiling?" she guessed.

Rex couldn't help but chuckle at her unknowing mistake. "That's a figure of speech, you know. I was really asking you how you were doing."

"Oh," she said, feeling awkward at having made such an error. She made sure to remember to interpret the phrase "What's up?" as "How are you?" instead. "I am doing fine, but . . . Well, I have just been thinking some more. And . . . I got another new 'emotion' I cannot identify. Might I ask you to tell me what it is I am feeling now?"

"Of course. Shoot."

"Shoot what? Oh, another figure of speech. I am feeling . . . empty, like my chest is hollow. It is like an unfilled void is all that is inside me right now, consuming all. It is not very pleasant."

"Hmm . . . That sounds a lot like sadness. What is it that you're feeling sad about?"

"I have realized that I am not like everyone else. I am not human, but I am also not EVO. So, what am I?"

"What? You're you! It doesn't matter if you're human or EVO or both. You're Talon, and no one can change that."

" . . . Thank you, Rex. You always know just what to say to make me feel happy."

"Well, I'm just trying the best I can. Because, to tell you the truth, I want you to be happy. It makes me happy to see you happy."

"How is that possible? How can someone's happiness make someone else happy?"

" . . . Gee. Uh, how do I go about explaining this? You're my friend, and your happiness matters to me." Rex was starting to feel a bit awkward, talking about _those_ kinds of feelings. Not that he loved her or anything, but all that caring and sharing and stuff . . . It was enough to make any average teenage boy turn red-faced with embarrassment.

"Friend?"

"Y-You know, uh, someone you trust."

"Ah! That means you are my friend!"

"I guess. And you're my friend. And as your friend, I, um . . . care about your happiness. So basically, I'm happy when you're happy."

"Oh, and you're sad when I'm sad?"

"Th-That's the general idea."

"I understand now! Thank you for explaining it to me, Rex."

"N-No problem. I'll, uh, be seeing you around."

"Seeing you!" As Rex walked away, Talon called out to him with one more thing to say: "We'll always be 'friends,' right?"

" . . . Yeah. Always," he replied with a kind smile. Walking away, he started thinking about how lonely Talon must have been before, being alone all the time. He was her first real friend.

It was then, at that very moment, Rex made a vow to never abandon Talon, so that no matter what happened, she would have at least one friend in this wide world . . .

* * *

Not much to say here, except don't forget to review!


	4. The Capture

_**Chapter 3: The Capture**_

"_Sing all you want, little bird, but no one can hear you."_

"Hey, Talon," Rex greeted Talon.

"Hey, Rex," Talon answered, again borrowing another of Rex's words.

Rex walked right by her before doing a double take, glancing back at Talon and backtracking his steps. Her fine white feathers were falling right off her body, leaving behind a trail of them as she walked. Already her pale midriff was exposed, and she was losing more of the feathers that covered her body by the minute. "What's going on with you?" he asked, concerned that her losing her feathers might have meant bad news.

"Hm? Oh, I am simply molting."

"Molting? As in . . . you're losing all your feathers?"

"Yes."

"I'm outta here!" He did _not_ want to be around when she lost _all_ of her feathers.

"Where are you going?" But already, he was gone. Talon tugged one of her loose feathers free and examined it idly, lost in thought. "Hmm . . . I wonder why he was so worried about me losing my feathers . . . ?"

Soon after Rex left, the rest of Talon's feathers came off—mostly because of her picking at the loosened ones—leaving her body completely exposed. But she took no note of her nakedness, as she was a stranger to the human concept of modesty. Rex, of course, was gone from the room by this point out of gentlemanly respect for her privacy—and the fact that he just didn't want to see her naked. Bobo couldn't help but gape at Talon's attractive form, his greedy eyes fondling every curve of her figure. That is, until Talon got uncomfortable with him staring and shot him a fierce glare, at which he looked away immediately. Six spared one glance towards her and then politely averted his gaze (like the gentleman we all know he is!). Holiday finally ended the guys' discomfort and/or perverseness by giving Talon a spare lab coat to wear until her feathers grew back.

"I still do not understand why I have to wear this," Talon complained to herself. The scratchy, unfamiliar fabric irritated her sensitive skin, which in turn annoyed her. She looked around in vain, hoping to find that Rex had returned. He was still nowhere to be seen, so she decided to search for him herself and left the room. But, as luck would have it, Rex wandered back into the room around the same moment Talon left.

"Hello, Rex," Holiday said to him as he glanced warily about the room. "You just missed her. She left a moment ago."

With that said, Rex relaxed and asked her, "Anything new going on?"

"In fact, there is. I've discovered the reason why those EVOs were focusing in on her."

"Yeah? Why did they?" For once, he was truly interested in what she had to say. He really wanted to know what those EVOs wanted with her, and what exactly set off his own nanites when he was around her.

"It seems that someone has implanted a tracking device into her. Or rather, infused it into her blood. Her nanites were emitting a homing signal, which was what the EVOs were honing in on. It was obviously placed in her for the purpose of locating her, but . . ."

"But what?"

"Somehow, that tracking device seems to have . . . deactivated itself. Her nanites are no longer putting out the signal that identified her location."

"That makes sense, kind of . . ." It would explain why her presence didn't excite his own nanites anymore. He had thought he'd just gotten used to it.

Suddenly, an alarm sounded, and an alert message came up on the main monitor. Holiday went to the monitor and her eyes briefly scanned the message. "Another EVO attack. Looks like a big one," she said calmly. This was nothing more than typical routine for her. And for Rex.

"Oh, yeah! Time to kick some EVO butt!" Rex shouted, his fist pounding his other hand in anticipation of slamming some more EVOs.

Talon, with her keen hawk hearing, heard Rex's raised voice and came running. "Rex! I knew I would find you eventually," she said with a smile, not even winded in the least, even after sprinting all around Providence headquarters looking for Rex. "What's going on?"

"Just another EVO. Nothing I can't handle."

"Ooh! Can I come?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean, your feathers . . ."

"I don't need any feathers. I still have my claws."

"But you can't very well go out there wearing nothing but a lab coat," Holiday interposed. "You can borrow some of my clothes. They'll probably be a little big for you, but it will be better than that lab coat."

"Thank you, Dr. Holiday. That is very kind of you."

Talon managed to uncover some clothes that weren't too terribly big for her slight physique—a black halter-top and a pair of white Capri pants. So now, she was properly clothed, but there was still another problem at hand . . . "I cannot fly. My wings have been essentially clipped. How am I to get there?" Talon inquired.

"I know! You can ride with me," Rex suggested. "I could fly both you and me there, easy! Especially considering you're so light . . ."

"Yeah! That is a very good idea," Talon chirped delightedly, beaming at him. "When are we leaving?"

"Right now!"

"Oh!" With a slightly awkward laugh, she came closer to Rex so he could fly her to wherever this EVO attack was occurring. Rex had intended to carry her in his arms, but Talon had a different idea, climbing onto his back and wrapping her arms securely around his neck. Rex blushed at Talon's unexpected show of affection, but again, she thought nothing of the intimate contact. As far as she knew, she was simply holding on tight in expectancy of a possibly bumpy ride. "Ready!"

"A-Alright. Here we go!" Rex formed with his nanites a set of hover-jet wings he liked to call the Boogie Pack. The dual engines generated more than enough thrust to get both him and Talon airborne. Talon's arms tightened around Rex's neck as the two soared through the sky, racing past the lazy white clouds that surrounded them. Talon had thought flying on her own wings was exhilarating, but riding on someone else's proved an even more breathtaking experience. Without the distraction of having to flap her wings and without having to worry about fatigue, she could more thoroughly enjoy the rush of the wind on her skin, the refreshing chill of the clouds as they rushed through them, and the overall joy of gliding effortlessly through the sky, slicing the air like a sharp blade. Rex was still distracted somewhat by Talon's closeness, but even then he could not deny the amazing sensation of being in the air, the world beneath him nothing but a vague dream. It was only he and Talon, together alone in the vast, open sky, where all their troubles seemed millions of miles away.

They arrived at their destination all too quickly, and the two had to land and end the wondrous experience known as flying. And there in front of them was the attacking EVO—a relatively high-level one, considering, and one that appeared to be some odd mix between a rat and a dragonfly. It had mostly the same body as a rat—a huge one, at least three times taller than a human and about four times as long—but it had the freaky compound eyes of a dragonfly, and wings to match. It also borrowed several extra limbs from its insect half—it had six legs in all. Catching sight of a new threat, it made a sound that was somewhere between the screech of a rat and the buzz of a dragonfly. Its wings produced a low, but loud humming noise as they rubbed together to lift the creature off the ground.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Rex shouted at the retreating EVO. He pried Talon's arms from his neck, meaning to leave her out of the battle and keep her safe. But Talon wasn't all that enthused by Rex's battle plan.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Talon protested defiantly, effectively using Rex's own words against him. "I am fighting with you! Take me up to that EVO, and I will take out its wings!"

It wasn't a bad idea, and Rex had no time to argue. "Okay," he sighed, allowing Talon to get on his back again. Swiftly assembling the hover wings once more, he zoomed up to where the EVO was still futilely attempting to escape. Talon leapt off Rex with a mighty bound, her nanites deftly transforming her delicate flesh fingers to deadly metal claws. In midair, she slashed at the rat-dragonfly EVO's wings. At first, it seemed that she only grazed the thick, leathery material, but by the time she landed back onto Rex, the EVO was grounded, its wings sliced in half.

Back on terra firma, the EVO refused to give up the fight. It lashed out at Rex and Talon with its oversized fangs, biting and snapping. Talon barely escaped its powerful jaws, its sharp teeth grazing her clothing. The EVO then whipped its broad tail at them, the attack as effective as tossing a large tree trunk at them, as that was how big its tail was. Rex promptly jumped over the lashing tail, but Talon could not get away, and she lost her balance as the EVO's tail crashed into her legs. She fell to the ground hard, skidding against the rough concrete and ripping her clothes even further. The EVO slinked towards her, relishing the scent of her fear and preparing to strike the final blow.

"Stay _away_ from her!" Rex yelled, his hands turning into large, mechanical hands known as the Smackhands and charging at the EVO. Dodging its pointed teeth, its thrashing tail, and the claws it used as last resort, Rex pummeled the beast, dealing blow after resounding blow until the EVO was no longer moving.

Rex approached the unconscious EVO and placed his hand firmly on its body. Glowing, blue angled lines that reminded Talon of the complex pattern of circuitry started shining where his hand was, and spread out through the body of the EVO. Where the strange lines of light touched the EVO, the EVO became less like a monster and more like a human. The extra limbs receded, the straggly fur disappeared, the wings vanished, and the creature itself was shrinking. Rex was _curing_ the EVO, using his nanites to safely deactivate the corrupted ones within the EVO that had caused it to go EVO in the first place. When the process was done, the EVO was no longer an EVO, but an ordinary man.

The job complete, Rex turned to Talon, her safety now his main concern. "You okay?" he asked her.

Talon carefully examined her body, cautiously testing each of her limbs for any pain. When she felt none, she said, "Yeah, I am okay. Well, except for these clothes . . ." Within the duration of the battle, the clothes she'd borrowed had become little more than tattered ribbons of cloth. "I hope Dr. Holiday will not mind too much."

Rex was about to tell her that Holiday probably wouldn't mind at all, when he noticed something. "Talon! Your feathers! They're back!"

"Eh?" She looked down at her body again, this time noticing the same thing Rex had—_white_ showing through where the _black_ top was torn. To get a better look, Talon removed the shreds of clothing from her body. And sure enough, her torso was covered with all-new feathers, pristine and apparently newly grown. "Interesting. My feathers had never grown back _this_ quickly before . . . And what is this?" At the very tips, her feathers had gained a light brown tint. "This is . . . This is the very color my feathers were before the experiment! My feathers are gaining their color back!"

"Cool! And, look, it's the same in your hair!" At the roots, her white hair had gotten that slight hint of brown, as well.

"This is fantastic! I can fly again!" Though, she'd secretly hoped that she would get to ride on Rex again . . .

Out of nowhere, a red, swirling portal materialized before them—undoubtedly the work of Breach, one of the members of the Pack, a servant to the devious EVO Van Kleiss. A young schoolgirl turned EVO, Breach had the ability to tear holes in the fabric of space itself, through which she could transport herself and others. From the crimson gap in space emerged the other members of the Pack—Biowulf, a creature with a body of steel and the vicious instincts of a wolf; and Skalamander, a reptilian being with the ability to manipulate harder-than-steel crystals. And, to Rex's surprise, Van Kleiss himself came forth from the portal. Possessing unstable nanites that had to constantly be fed with other nanites, Van Kleiss typically stayed in the land of Abysus—where nanites lingered in even the nonliving soil—and let the Pack do his dirty work for him. But for some reason, he'd decided to leave Abysus.

Van Kleiss' arrogant gaze fell on Talon. "What's this? You . . . You're no average EVO, are you?" When Talon answered with silence, shock widening her eyes, a leering smile crept across his features. "Take her," he commanded the Pack, and returned to Abysus through Breach's portal. And immediately, the Pack converged on Talon.

Rex formed the Smackhands and charged at Biowulf and Skalamander, who were struggling to capture the elusive, lithe Talon, only to be blindsided by Breach. She used her teleporting ability cleverly, throwing her fists through the portals and catching Rex off guard. But Rex had fought her before.

"I'm not falling for the same trick twice!" he declared. When she tried a sneak attack from behind, Rex reached through the portal she had meant to strike him from and delivered a strong blow to her with his Smackhands, the sound of metal clanging intertwining with Breach's pained shriek. When she attempted to flee, Rex slammed her again, this time in the head. She crumpled into an unconscious heap.

By this point, Biowulf had gotten his arms around Talon. But Talon easily broke free by releasing her wings and turning them to metal. Her razor-sharp wings cut through Biowulf's steel armor with ease, and he was forced to let go of her to avoid losing his arms. Rex then helped her out by taking Biowulf down, swiftly and almost effortlessly knocking Biowulf out with one good hit from his Smackhands. But Skalamander suddenly grabbed Talon, and this time she couldn't get away. Her sharpened feathers did nothing to his tough reptile skin or his crystalline armor. Rex chased after them, but already Breach had recovered and formulated another portal back to Abysus. Skalamander, with an iron grip on Talon, fled through the portal, followed by Breach. The portal closed in on itself the moment Breach went through it, leaving Rex with no chance to follow her. And just like that, Talon was out of his reach.

On the other side of the portal, Talon nearly suffocated in Skalamander's death grip. Her oxygen cut off, she fell limp, unconsciousness overtaking her superhuman, but still mortal endurance. Skalamander then eased his hold on her. His master wanted her alive, so alive he would keep her. That is, if he didn't "accidentally" kill her . . .

o~*~o

Talon awoke in a strange, unfamiliar place, the fact causing threads of icy fear to wrap around her heart and constrict it with a painful squeeze. She soon realized that she was trapped in an outsized birdcage, which only chilled her veins with another shot of frigid dread. She raised her eyes, dragging her gaze about the room in which she was being held. There wasn't very much in the room, except for a large throne that appeared to be made of gnarled wood. Continuing her scan of the room, she startled when she found herself looking into the dark midnight eyes of a man. She hadn't heard his name, but she knew for certain he was the one who ordered her capture. She bristled, narrowing her eyes and growling softly.

The man laughed. "No need to be so hostile," he said, his smooth, low voice laden with arrogance. "I am Van Kleiss. Might I ask for your name?" Talon glared at him in response. "Fine, then. Don't tell me." Losing whatever little interest he had in her, he went to his throne and sat, waiting. Waiting for Rex to take the bait.

Talon's heart pounded wildly from fear, her mind—and her better judgment—skirting the edge of absolute terror. But she outright denied that terror of its desire to control her, struggling to prevent it from stealing away her sense. To keep her mind away from the fear, she started singing that old song again: "_Mira la luna . . . Comiendo su tuna . . . Enchando las cascaras, en la laguna . . ._"

Van Kleiss let another smile slip across his countenance, amused at Talon's little performance. "Sing all you want, little bird," he said, "but no one can hear you."

With an unsteady grip on her logic, Talon came across a thought, one that could have been her saving grace. "These bars cannot hold me! I can slice through these bars with ease!" She formed her metal talons, now anticipating freedom.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not?" But she soon got her answer, without another word spoken by Van Kleiss. A collar that had been strapped around her neck without her knowledge of it sent an electrical jolt through her body, temporarily shutting down her nanites and nearly short-circuiting her nerves with an agonizing zap. Her claws reverted to normal hands, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor of the birdcage with a dull thud. Her last thought before the black sea of nothingness swallowed her whole was: _Rex . . . Please . . . Help me . . ._

**A/N: **Yeah, I did another cliffhanger. And I won't post another chapter until I get at least one review on this one, so _please_ don't forget to review!


	5. The Release

Sorry it took so long for me to update! Between exams and homework, I just couldn't find the time to type! Anyway, here is the next chapter, finally! Oh, and I'd like you to tell me: why do you people keep comparing yourselves to Talon? I mean, in terms of personality, how does she come across as to you? I'd really like to know... So, please read and review!_**

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Chapter 4: The Release

"_Make me happy again . . ."_

"But we have to save her!" Rex pounded an angry fist to the wall, as he demanded permission to go to Abysus in order to rescue Talon.

Holiday gave a sigh of exasperation. "Rex, we've already been through this," she said tiredly. No matter how many times she'd tried to explain the situation to him, he kept insisting. "There's just too much at stake here." In other words, Rex's own safety. "And it takes several hours to reach Abysus—it may be too late for her by the time we get there, anyway."

"I don't care!" Rex's voice rose in anger, and became razor-sharp as it developed an edge of fear. Who knew what that Van Kleiss had done to Talon by this point? Anxiety and worry crept into Rex's mind, skittering around his insides like restless insects. "She needs our help! There's gotta be some way to get to Abysus faster!" Where there's a will, there's a way, right? At least, that's what he thought.

But his last words were left unheard when something on the computer monitor snared Holiday's attention. She clicked a few keys on the keyboard, gazing intently at the computer monitor. "This is . . ."

"What? What is it?"

"A wormhole has just opened nearby. And if I'm right, it leads to . . . Abysus."

"Are you serious?"

" . . . Yes. It goes directly to Abysus. What can this mean?"

"It means Van Kleiss is mocking Rex," Six said, having heard all of the prior conversation. "He's daring Rex to come to Abysus and challenge him."

"Alright, then. I accept his challenge!" Rex declared.

o~*~o

_CLANG! CLANG!_ The repeated sound of impact on metal resonated through the room with a muted echo as Talon threw herself against the bars of the cage that held her prisoner over and over again. Each time, the shock of the hard steel slamming into her body forced a grunt of pain out of her, yet she continued the self-punishing action.

"Why do you harm yourself so, little bird?" Van Kleiss asked with mock sympathy, when, in fact, he cared not whether she hurt herself or not. He was simply teasing her for committing such masochistic behavior, and was also wondering somewhat why she would do such a thing in the first place. "You know you can't escape."

Again, Talon denied him an answer. She was tackling the cage bars not as an attempt to escape, but as a means to stave off the terror that lurked at the edges of her psyche and still threatened to invade and take over her thoughts. The sharp pain she felt each time her body collided with the steel bars served to distract her, if only for a moment, from that terror.

She attacked the cage bars that refused to give way until her energy was completely spent. Her dainty, delicate but strong hands yet gripped the bars that trapped her so as the rest of her collapsed onto the floor of the suspended cage. Her small body heaved with each labored breath drawn through clenched teeth, and blood spilling from the wounds she'd inflicted upon herself trickled down her back in scarlet rivulets.

Van Kleiss reached between the bars of the cage and, with uncharacteristic gentleness, lifted up her head with his hand, cradling her chin with his fingers. "Tired, are we?" he said with a sardonic smile. The contact caused the fear within Talon to spike, nearly sending her over the edge into senseless terror. Talon reacted by her animal instinct—to bite anything placed near her face—and clamped her teeth on one of his fingers. She received no reaction from Van Kleiss, and instead set off a shockwave of agony that spread through her whole body and crippled her even further. She had tried to bite the hand that was clad in a gauntlet of solid gold—which Van Kleiss utilized to extract nanites from other EVOs—that, in turn, resulted in a major toothache for her.

"Nice try," Van Kleiss said, his smile growing into a smirk. "Now . . . I'll just have a little taste of your nanites." Five long, needle-like probes emerged from each fingertip of the golden gauntlet. At the sight of what she thought to be needles, Talon struggled desperately to move away despite her weakened state. With his other hand, Van Kleiss grasped her neck—not so tight as to strangle her, but still maintaining a grip just firm enough to keep her from getting away.

"No . . . Please . . . No more needles . . ." Talon whimpered, overwhelmed by terror despite all her efforts. "P-Please . . . Don't . . . _AGH!_" She cried out when the probes sank their points into her skin. A scream that couldn't escape welled in her throat as the probes penetrated deeper, invading her veins. Then the agonized scream broke free from her, piercing the air at a pitch most humans only dreamed of achieving as the probes robbed her nanites and transferred them to Van Kleiss. She could feel the nanites, and what little strength she had left, draining from her. Was this the end for her?

"Leave her alone, Van Kleiss!" A voice rang out. But whose?

In came Rex to the rescue! He stormed into the room, glowering at Van Kleiss—the one who dared mess with someone Rex cared about.

Van Kleiss released Talon, letting her fall back to the floor of the cage, and narrowed his midnight eyes. "You again."

Rex noticed how Talon lay limp, motionless. "What did you do to her?" he demanded.

"Nothing . . . much," Van Kleiss replied cryptically. And with a casual snap of his fingers, the Pack was on Rex immediately. This might have been bad for Rex, but he brought backup.

There with Rex was Agent Six and Bobo, ready to fend off the Pack while Rex rescued Talon. Bobo fired at the EVOs with his two laser pistols, fazing them with the stun blast. While the EVOs were still dazed by the blast, Six slashed at them, his twin katanas gleams of light as he swung them with blinding speed. Breach barely dodged the attack by slipping through another of her portals, but Skalamander and Biowulf were down for the count. Then Bobo gave Breach one more laser blast, and she was out cold, as well. Bobo continued to fire laser blasts at the unconscious EVOs, shouting, "Take that! And that! And that!" obviously going for overkill.

Meanwhile, Rex was facing off against Van Kleiss. Here in Abysus, Van Kleiss had the advantage, as he could manipulate nanites—and in Abysus, _everything_ had nanites, even the soil. Van Kleiss commanded the roots from nearby trees to rip themselves out of the ground and attack Rex. Rex easily slashed through the roots with his nanite sword, the B. F. S. Even more tree roots tore out of the earth and lashed out at Rex, and again, he cut them down with ease. "That all you got?" Rex remarked mockingly.

But, in fact, that was _not_ all Van Kleiss had. Actually, he was holding back—if he wanted to kill Rex, Rex would be dead by now. He wanted to conserve his energy for now, and he got what he wanted—to assess Rex's skills once more, to see if he'd improved—so he left, and let Rex get his little bird back.

Only one problem, though. Talon was still locked in the birdcage. So, Rex called his nanites to form the Slam Cannon, a projectile-type weapon. The back end of the "cannon" shot out and bit into the ground, loading a chunk of the hard-packed earth into the projectile mechanism—improvised ammo. The clump of dirt was launched, and it took out the hook holding the cage to the ceiling. Talon, caught unawares, let out an exclamation of surprise that sounded more like the call of a bird than the cry of a human as the cage toppled to the ground. The force of the crash landing shattered the lock on the door, and it swiveled open. Rex carefully removed Talon from the mangled remains of the cage and set her gently down on the ground. "Talon? Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"I . . . I'm fine," Talon said after some painful effort. She made herself sit up in spite of the pain enveloping her whole body. Such pain . . . It was almost as bad as the day she first took human form, with those excruciating rays of light. She once more sought comfort in Rex's eyes. She looked deeply into his eyes, but the pain wouldn't go away even then. Talon then surprised herself as she suddenly threw her arms around him—not because she needed something to hold on to, but because she just . . . _wanted_ to. She held onto him tightly, and the pain faded just the tiniest bit. "Make it go away," she whispered. "Make the pain go away . . . Make me happy again . . ." In her mind, he could make all the bad things in the world vanish, and make her happy like he always did.

"Talon . . ." After a minute of hesitation, Rex returned her embrace.

Talon smiled. His arms around her made her feel like nothing else could ever hurt her, and the pain just melted away. She fell to unconsciousness, the smile remaining.

o~*~o

Upon returning to Providence, Talon was transported to the medical bay, where Dr. Holiday conducted a thorough examination. Fortunately, Talon came away with nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises, in addition to mild weakness as a result of overexertion and several of her nanites being stolen by Van Kleiss. She was to remain in the medical bay for a few days, to monitor her nanite levels and make sure she makes a proper recovery. Rex came in as soon as Holiday allowed him, so he could check on Talon. Talon was asleep, regaining her strength and recuperating from the traumatic incident. And, for some reason, Bobo came in with Rex—as if he were actually concerned about Talon or something. Rex stared at Talon's sleeping form, waiting and hoping she'll wake up soon.

Bobo couldn't resist—he had to tease Rex just a little. "You just gonna stand there looking at her, kid? Oh, the things I'd do to her if I was you . . ." He said this with a lecherous grin, suggesting more than Rex was willing to hear.

"Shut up, Bobo!" Rex cried, blushing at Bobo's obscene remark.

"I knew I'd find you somewhere around here," came another voice.

"Hm?" Looking up, Rex caught sight of a very familiar head of blond hair. "Noah!"

Noah greeted his friend with a smile. "Who's your friend here?" he asked, glancing at Talon.

As if in response to his question, Talon awakened and her steel-colored eyes eased open. Those eyes then blinked and focused on Noah, asking him a question with a silent, inquiring look.

Rex took it upon himself to introduce the two to each other. "Noah, meet Talon. Talon, Noah."

"Hi, Talon," Noah said to her.

"Hi," Talon mimicked him.

Noah smiled at her charming imitation act. "Can she talk without copying someone else?" he wondered aloud.

"Hi, Noah," she said in reply. "Are you Rex's friend?"

"Yeah, of course. Are you?"

"Of course!"

At that moment, Dr. Holiday entered the room. "Oh, you're awake," she remarked. "How are you feeling, Talon?"

"Fine. I am still feeling a little weak, though."

"That's good, but you should get some more rest, and stay here where I can monitor you a little while longer." As she said that, Holiday checked the various monitors and machines, scribbled down some notes on her clipboard, and then left. Soon as she did, Noah took Rex aside.

"What's been going on around here?" Noah asked. "Clearly, I've missed out on a lot!" He nodded his head in Talon's direction to indicate what he was talking about.

"It's a long story," Rex replied.

"I've got time."

" . . . Okay. I found her in some ghost town while I was out on a mission. She's a hybrid, half-EVO, half-human. Other than the fact that she's a hawk turned human as a result some experiment, we don't know that much else about her."

"Wow. That's some story!" Noah and Rex both glanced back at Talon. Left alone with the monkey she resented, it was only natural that she'd gotten into another squabble with him.

" . . . Oh, yeah? Why don't you prove it!" Talon was saying, a scowl etching fine lines into her otherwise flawless features.

"Hey, I'm not the bird-brained idiot who came up with that dumb idea!" Bobo retorted.

"I am _not_ bird-brained!"

"Really? You coulda fooled me!"

Irked to the point of reckless action, Talon did to him the first thing that came to her mind—that is, pecking him. Trying and failing to wield a nonexistent beak against him, Talon clashed heads with Bobo with a sharp crack of sound. "Ow!" Talon complained, flinching away from the ape and clutching her now aching head. "I—I forgot . . . I don't have a beak anymore. Oh, that smarts . . ."

Bobo chuckled, rapping his thick skull with his knuckles. "Pays to have a hard head," he said with another chuckle, which earned him an irritated glare from Talon. In reply, he teased her some more. "What's wrong, birdbrain? Got a headache? Heheh . . ."

That pushed Talon beyond mere annoyance and into genuine anger. Forming her metal talons, she threatened to strike. "I swear, I will slice your head off!" she growled.

"Ooh, I'm so scared. Gimme your best shot, birdie!"

"HAH!" She swung at him, only for him to duck and miss by a hair's length, nicking the hat atop his head in the process.

Bobo took off the hat and examined it. "That was my favorite hat!" he said, his voice not quite but close to a whining tone.

"That was but a warning. Next time, I will not miss." She poised to swing again.

"Okay, that's enough, you two!" Rex intervened, forcing the bickering duo apart. Bobo stuck his tongue out at Talon. Talon seemed like she was almost pouting. Rex looked at the two, made sure he had the attention of both. "Can you just promise me that you won't fight all the time?"

"I cannot promise that." Talon shot yet another glare at Bobo.

Bobo returned the scornful look with a defiant stare of his own. "Me either," he said to Rex.

Rex groaned in exasperation. "_¡Ay yi yi!_"

o~*~o

The next few days were fairly uneventful. Talon kept quarrelling with Bobo, Holiday held an anxious eye on Talon, and Rex acted as referee to Talon and Bobo, breaking up their fights when they went too far. Talon's feathers recovered more of their former coloring—now a little over half of the feathers were that caramel color. As the days went on, Holiday's concern for Talon's well being increased steadily. The cause for her worry—Talon's nanite levels still had not returned to where they should be. In Rex's case, his nanites generally regenerated on their own, but Talon . . . Her nanite levels, the amount of life force residing in her body, were still dangerously low—they hadn't even budged an inch since the occurrence with Van Kleiss. Holiday's anxiety at a peak, she approached Talon. "May I try something with you?" she asked Talon, an idea taking root in her mind.

"Sure," Talon replied. "What do you have in mind?"

Escorting Talon to her laboratory, Holiday led Talon to a machine that vaguely reminded Talon of a coffin for some reason. "If you would get into this machine, please," Holiday said.

"Um . . . What's it going to do to me?"

"It's simply going to implant some nanites into your body to replace the ones you've lost." While she spoke, Talon swayed and started to fall before catching herself—she was still weak even after several days to rest and recover. "If it works, you'll feel much stronger," Holiday added, hoping to convince Talon to get in the machine.

"And if it doesn't work?"

" . . . Let's just hope it does work."

With a doubtful but accepting look, Talon got into the machine. Holiday clacked some keys one the nearby computer, and the chamber of the machine lit up as a golden light poured in. Talon relaxed as she felt the soothing embrace of the light. This wasn't like the excruciatingly bright white light of her not-so-distant past—this light was warm and comforting, the new nanites gently maneuvering their way into her body with an almost loving caress. But then everything went wrong.

The nanites intended to replace Talon's lost ones conflicted with the nanites currently in her body. Talon's nanites rejected the new ones, and the battle between the different types of nanites that raged within Talon's body threatened to destroy her from the inside, causing her worse pain than even the day of her rebirth into a human. Talon writhed inside her claustrophobic prison, pleading with a pained cry of torment to be let out.

Holiday acted as quickly as she could, shutting down the machine and deactivating the nanites that already invaded Talon's body. The doctor freed Talon from the machine, and went to check if Talon was okay. But when she tried to approach Talon, Talon growled a vicious snarl. As Holiday watched, the pupils of Talon's eyes narrowed to nearly imperceptible pinpoints, and the eyes themselves became wild and feral. Talon engaged her defense mechanisms, turning her feathers to metal and forming her sharp talons.

"T-Talon?" Holiday said, stepping towards Talon again.

"Grrrr . . ." Talon grinded another growl out of her throat, then decided it was not worth the fight. She fled, calling out her wings that, though made of seemingly solid metal, shifted quietly with her movements, and escaped through the roof, effortlessly slicing a hole through it with her razor-sharp wings.

Rex caught sight of the fleeing Talon through the window, and chased after her, sensing that something's wrong. When his own legs weren't enough to keep up with the swift EVO-hybrid, he worked his nanites to enhance them with a pair of huge mechanical boots he called the Punk Busters. He then leapt from rooftop to rooftop, now easily keeping pace with Talon.

"Talon!" he called out to her. She turned around for a brief moment to glare at him with a gaze hardened to steel by aimless hatred. "Talon, get back here!"

When he was but a few feet away from her, he took to the air with one powerful kick off the ground and landed directly on top of Talon, bringing her tumbling to the ground with him.

Talon landed with a harsh thump, while Rex landed on his feet much like a feline does—though not quite as gracefully. Talon sprang back to her feet, propelled by wild, instinctual determination, and, with a flap of her nanite-strengthened wings, launched herself at Rex. With less than a second to react, Rex had only the chance to move just out of the way, her blade-like wings carving a shallow scratch into his side as she zipped by.

As Talon regained her bearings, Rex disassembled the Punk Busters and brought out the Smackhands. By the time she turned to face him, he had slammed one of the mechanical fists into her, knocking her backwards. She shook off the attack with near herculean invulnerability, her mind shut off to the concept of pain. She lunged at Rex again, this time baring her talons. Rex gripped her wrists—not once thinking to disengage his Smackhands—and threw her to the ground. But, ever acting on the instinct for self-preservation, Talon refused to give in. She rose to her feet once more, and charged at Rex yet again. Rex had not the opportunity to even breathe before her talons sank into his flesh. Wincing from the pain but daring not to let her win, he grasped her, her tiny body nearly vanishing into the large hands, and constricted her until she fainted from lack of oxygen.

Rex placed her on the ground and shook her gingerly, silently praying he didn't bring too much damage upon her. She moaned and opened her eyes, which were back as they should be—soft yet lively, like clouds charged with electricity and thunder. "Rex . . . ?" she breathed, her empty lungs attempting to recover the air it had lost.

Rex smiled and said nothing, for he found himself a little too emotional to speak at the moment. He scooped her now frail body into his arms and carried her back to Providence. Once they got back, Rex asked the question that had been on his mind since Talon went out of control: "What made her go all crazy like that?"

Holiday supplied the answer he sought. "Well . . . I tried to provide some extra nanites for her, since her nanite levels were alarmingly low, but it didn't work out so well. Her body rejected the nanites, and caused her to suffer. Then, I suppose she was overcome with fear, which was probably why she was acting like that. She'll be fine now. The nanites that were already put into her are deactivated, so her nanites should be able to safely absorb them, and her nanite levels will likely increase as a result."

"That's good. At least she'll be all right." Rex looked over at Talon, who was resting from the exhausting ordeal, and smiled.

Suddenly, a communications link established itself on the main monitor. On the screen appeared the face of White Knight, the man in charge of Providence and all affairs dealing with eliminating EVOs. "Dr. Holiday!" he said with a voice that commanded attention and respect.

"Yes, sir?" Holiday answered.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Meaning of what, sir?"

His expression grew irritated. "I've been receiving reports of 'an EVO that's not really an EVO' rampaging through the city. Would you care to explain?"

"Ah, yes. You see, it was only an accident. I can assure you, it won't—"

Knight pounded his fist on the desk he sat at, cutting her off. "It doesn't matter! I want this EVO, or whatever it is, eliminated immediately!"

"But that's not fair!" Rex interjected. "She hasn't done anything!"

"But that _thing _does pose a risk. Its behavior is erratic and unpredictable—in other words, highly dangerous. It must be eliminated."

Though he already knew the answer, Rex asked, "Eliminate her how?"

" . . . You're going to have to cure her."

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Please don't forget to review!


	6. The Parting

A/N: Grr... I'm getting a little tired of getting beat out by some people who have nothing better to do than write day in and day out. You know who you are! If you could please just give my story a chance to get some much-deserved attention, I would greatly appreciate it. You know the drill - read and review!**_

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**_Chapter 5: The Parting_**

"_This may be goodbye, but this isn't farewell."_

"W-What . . . ? No! No way!" Rex snapped, without so much as a second thought for the ludicrous idea. Cure Talon? He wouldn't do that, not to her. Though, he didn't really even know what would happen were she cured . . .

"You must," White Knight replied angrily. "I order you to eradicate this threat!" And with that, he clicked off the monitor.

Rex turned to Holiday. "What _would_ happen if she was cured?" he asked.

"Well . . . I suppose that, considering her human DNA-infused nanites are the only reason she _is_ human, she would turn back into a bird," Holiday said after some consideration.

Which would make the task of curing Talon feel even more like a crime—to Rex, anyways. She wouldn't want to go back to being a bird, this he knew. She was happy being human, and who was he to take that away from her? But he also knew that there would be consequences if he defied White Knight's orders. He became trapped in his own thoughts, combating the options in his head.

The object of his difficult decision startled Rex out of his reverie with a cheerful tweet of, "Hi!"

"Um, hi," Rex muttered, with not much else to say as he still debated his decision.

Talon immediately picked up on his confliction. "What's wrong, Rex?" Concern glittered in her silver eyes.

"It's nothing, really." He faked a smile, hoping to get her to back away and allow him to think about his decision some more.

Talon wasn't about to be deterred. She knew something was wrong; she could sense it, see it beneath the fake smile. "Come on, you can tell me," she insisted.

But before he could come up with something to tell her, an alarm sounded, snaring the attention of both with its insistent, earsplitting racket and red flashing lights.

"Another EVO attack!" Holiday announced, her usual calm rattled by the urgency of the situation. "A huge one, attacking downtown!"

"O-Okay, I'm on it!" Rex said, attempting to form The Rex Ride. But at the moment, he was understandably worked up over the whole ordeal with Talon, and since his biometrics—the level of the functionality of his nanites—had a tendency to be linked to his emotions and to flatline whenever he got upset, so naturally, the attempt at creating the machine failed. At most, all he could produce were pieces of scrap metal. And, as long as he was troubled by thoughts of curing Talon, it would remain that way.

Holiday gave him a sympathetic, understanding look, while Talon had confusion and concern on her expression. The former knew how hard this decision was on Rex, but the latter didn't even know what was going on.

"Are you all right, Rex?" Talon asked him.

"I'm fine," Rex said. "My nanites are just kinda going haywire right now."

"Why?"

"I, uh, don't know. Sometimes they do stuff like that."

Talon seemed skeptical, but she accepted the explanation. "So, if you can't fly . . ." A broad, somewhat sly grin broke out on her face as a thought struck her. "It's your turn to ride!"

"Huh?"

"You gave me a ride. Now I get to give you one." She chirped a giggle, amused at this fact. She then turned her back to him, indicating for him to get on it, twisting her head around to look expectantly at him over her shoulder.

"Uh . . ." Rex hesitated. Her getting on his back was one thing, but him getting on hers? He wouldn't, couldn't do it—nope, he wasn't about to let a girl give him a piggyback ride. It just wasn't going to happen. "I don't think so."

She glanced perplexedly at him, but decided not to question him. "Would you rather I carried you?" she offered, trying to puzzle out the workings of a teenaged male's mind and his male pride with another mystified look.

Was that really any better? No, Rex thought, that's actually worse. " . . . Piggyback ride'll work." He got onto Talon's back with a defeated sigh.

Talon beamed at him, still decidedly baffled, but happy he complied. "Let's go!" She called out her wings, and took to the air with a running start and a few powerful wingbeats.

It took more effort for her to stay airborne with Rex on her back, but it wasn't too much trouble for her. Being half EVO, she was stronger than an average human and could handle the burden. In fact, Talon found herself free enough to play around a little. She twirled and spun in the sky, performing all kinds of aerial stunts—loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, among others—nearly throwing Rex off her in the process. He scrambled to get a better grip around her, just barely saving himself from falling.

"What are you doing?" Rex demanded, heart racing after the near calamity. After another terrifying barrel roll, he shouted, "Cut it out!" If he were to have fallen, he would not have been able to rescue himself, as his biometrics were still on the mend.

But Talon couldn't help herself—she had to do just one last thing. She tilted her body downwards, to the point where it was nearly vertical in a high-velocity nosedive, plummeting towards the earth below.

"Whoa! Pull up, pull up!" Rex yelled over the howling wind whipping by them, practically strangling Talon as he held on for dear life. The ground was coming up alarmingly fast, getting closer and closer with each passing second as Talon yet headed straight for it. "Talon, pull up!"

At the very last possible moment—just a split second away from crashing into the ground—Talon pulled up, working her way back up to the altitude they had been at before her reckless trick. Her body leveled back out to a horizontal position, and Rex relaxed. "That was a close one . . ." he sighed.

Between her crazy stunts and the added weight of her passenger, Talon tired more quickly than usual, and was forced to land about halfway to their destination. She and Rex walked the rest of the way, though they were slowed by Talon's curiosity, as she stopped to peer into every storefront window, particularly fascinated by the shiny objects displayed in the jewelry store window. Here, she lingered, staring wide-eyed at the sparkling pieces of jewelry. Then, without really realizing what she was doing, she stepped towards the objects that mesmerized her so. And she walked right into the glass window, thumping her head on it.

"Ow!" she yelped, more startled than injured. She examined the space in front of her, unable to see the transparent glass. "What is this?"

Talon looked so genuinely confused—over something so simple as glass—that Rex couldn't help but smile. He gave the glass a sharp tap, causing it to vibrate and reveal its solid nature to Talon. "I think that's called, 'glass,'" he said to her, still smiling.

"Glass?" She placed her hand on the window, feeling its solidity for herself. "Oh . . . That makes sense." With the confounding problem solved, she continued walking, as did Rex.

Finally, the two reached downtown. And right in front of them was the attacking EVO, impossible to miss—it must have been at least 50 feet tall. It had no specific shape, a monstrous blob with one eye—and what an eye it was. From that eye, the EVO was firing beams of concentrated energy that obliterated everything in its path. It shot a beam at a car—which instantly evaporated into a million different pieces, scattering in all directions to flee from the powerful blast. The EVO shot at a building, which also didn't stand a chance. "That's some serious firepower," Rex remarked.

Talon asked him, "Can you use your nanites now?" She hoped so; she didn't want to have to fight the laser-firing EVO alone.

Rex tested his nanites by trying to form the Smackhands. His nanites pulled through, building the mechanical fists around his hands. He didn't say anything to Talon; his forming the Smackhands was more than a sufficient answer. He launched himself at the EVO to face it head-on, while Talon flitted around to its rear to try a sneak attack. Rex made direct contact, slamming into the EVO and dazing it. Talon's feathers gained the gray sheen of metal, her talons formed, and she sank the claws into the EVO. But her attack was ineffective—the EVO was made of some kind of substance that absorbed shock, and Talon's claws slipped harmlessly into this substance. Surprised by the absorption of her attack, and somewhat disturbed by the feel of the slimy substance of which the EVO was composed of, she yanked her hands out hastily.

The EVO answered their attack with another laser beam. Directed at Talon, Rex was untouched, while Talon just escaped the blast, a hair's length away from losing one of her wings. Talon tried diving into the beast, to use her steel-cutting wings to cut through it. But again, she simply slid through the creature, leaving her more than a little bewildered and covered in an unidentified slime. It was painfully apparent that cutting wouldn't work with this EVO. Talon had no other choice but to leave it to Rex.

Rex also knew the fact that cutting was no good, as he watched Talon's claws and razor-sharp wings slip through the EVO to no effect. So, he thought, if cutting wouldn't work, maybe some good, old-fashioned brute force would work. He kept pounding at the EVO with his Smackhands, his mind on taking it down. But while he was focused on beating the EVO, the EVO was preparing to fire another devastating laser blast—aimed at Rex.

Talon saw what was about to happen. She knew Rex was in danger. With a shout of, "Rex, look out!" she zipped as fast as she could towards him. Before Rex could even look up, Talon threw herself over him, determined to protect him. Her metal wings became shields curled around the two of them, the feathers covering her torso a suit of armor.

Rex felt nothing more than a slight thud as Talon took the brunt of the attack meant for him. She cried out in pain, using all her endurance and resolve to keep from fleeing, from running away as every last instinct screamed at her to do so. The force of the blast launched her forward, of off Rex, tossing her to the ground.

Rex rose to his feet and ran over to Talon. "Talon!" he cried. She lay on her side in an awkward position, limbs twisted in such a way that was painful even to look at, the silvery luster of metal fading from her wings and torso. The durable metal of her feathers had deflected the worst of the blast, but her feathers couldn't protect everything. Her exposed back was burnt badly, the pale skin turned a fiery red, and her legs were also slightly burnt. "Say something, Talon!" Rex pleaded, desperate to know if she was still conscious.

By some miracle, she was. Responding to Rex's voice, she said, "Rex?" and looked up at him. Looking him over, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Yeah, but . . . but . . ." Rex stammered, glancing once more at Talon's injuries.

"I'll be fine . . . I think."

"Talon . . ."

The EVO behind them wasn't going to wait for the two of them to finish. It roared loudly, retrieving their attention.

"Hang in there, Talon," Rex said before turning to the impatient EVO. "You're gonna pay for doing that to Talon!" Forming his Smackhands again, he leapt into the air, flying towards the EVO. He crashed into it, the impact of his Smackhands sending the beast toppling down. Rex then pummeled the EVO continuously until it could take no more, losing consciousness. After a few more unnecessary blows, Rex cured the EVO, leaving in its place a young woman.

The matter of the EVO attack dealt with, Rex immediately turned his attention back to Talon. She lay in the same spot he left her, waiting patiently. "Let's go," he said to her.

"Okay," she said. After a great deal of effort, she forced herself to sit up, the idea that she could fly herself out of there in her head. But her wings hung uselessly at her side, bent at jagged, unnatural angles, bones crushed from the sheer power of the blast. "Looks like you're going to have to give me another ride."

Rex feared that she might fall off or get jostled around too much if he flew her, so he decided to use The Rex Ride, the hover cycle being comparatively safer. He assembled the vehicle with his nanites, and gently lifted Talon up and placed her behind him. He then zoomed off, racing as fast as possible back to Providence.

While the trip was relatively short, it seemed like forever to Rex. He constantly looked back to check on Talon, and what he saw wasn't good. As the seconds dragged on into minutes, Talon's condition progressively deteriorated as she succumbed to her exhaustion and the pain of her wounds. She lay slumped against him, arms limp around his waist as she barely clung to consciousness.

The two finally arrived at Providence. Rex deconstructed his machine, catching Talon as it disappeared from beneath her. He rushed Talon in, taking her to the med bay where he desperately hoped to find Dr. Holiday. Much to his gratitude, she was, and the doctor took Talon into her care straightaway. Rex followed, and watched as Holiday moved swiftly and with purpose around Talon, doing whatever was necessary to ease Talon's pain and help Talon heal. Soon, Talon was connected to several machines and monitors, and was sleeping peacefully under the influence of painkillers. Her wings were set with splints and her burns treated with soothing ointment.

"Those burns are pretty serious," Holiday reported, "and there are quite a few fractures and breaks in her wings, but, with time, she'll recover."

Rex would have expressed his thanks to her, but he ended up choking on his own answer, so he simply looked at Talon instead. She looked so helpless, so frail, so . . . broken just lying there, that he had to look away to keep himself from breaking into tears.

Out of nowhere, White Knight appeared on one of the various monitors, and he looked none too happy. He saw that Talon was still her half-EVO self. "I told you to cure that thing," he said with a thinly veiled glare aimed at Rex.

"Sir, I was just . . ." Holiday started to tell him the first half-formed excuse that came to her mind, but Rex cut her off.

"I will, sir," he said solemnly, his decision reluctantly made. "But, uh . . . But . . ."

"Talon has suffered some pretty serious injuries, and will need time to recover before we can attempt to cure her," Holiday finished for him.

Hearing that, White Knight seemed appeased. "All right," he repented. "But I expect you to cure that thing soon as it does recover." And like that, he vanished from the monitor.

It was at that time that Noah decided to drop by for another visit. "Hey," he said. Then he noticed the atmosphere of depression hanging heavily in the air. "Okay, what's going on here? It's like you two are waiting for the apocalypse or something." He caught sight of Talon, and gaped at her broken form. "Whoa . . . What happened to her?" He reached out as if to touch her, but then withdrew his hand, worried that he might disturb something important or accidentally cause her further harm.

"She protected me," Rex said, still unable to bring himself to look at her and the injuries she sustained to protect him. "From a laser-blasting EVO. And on top of that, White Knight wants me to cure her." Needless to say, things weren't going very well for him at the moment.

"Oh, man . . . I had no idea. Wait, why does White Knight want her cured?"

"He thinks she's a 'potential threat,' whatever that means. And, if I do cure her, she'll turn back into a bird."

"Aw, no way! That sucks, man." Noah was quite endeared with Talon; he didn't want to see her turned back into a bird, either. But, what could he do about it?

"I know. But right now, I just hope she gets better soon . . ." Yet at the same time, he also hoped she would take her sweet time to recover, because of what would have to happen once she did get better. He just didn't know anymore . . .

o~*~o

It took four days for Talon to simply regain consciousness, and several days more for her to recover enough to get back on her feet. In the time she spent recuperating, color was fully restored to her feathers. Now there was no trace of white left, only that caramel brown with light tan specks. Her hair was the same, silken caramel with streaks of soft sand. Her wings were still wrapped up with splints, but her burns had healed considerably. Where her skin had been bright red, it was now a faded, subdued pink. She was still safe under the agreement that Rex would wait until she healed completely, but it wouldn't be much longer before he had to cure her.

Mere minutes after Talon was up and about again, she started up yet another argument with Bobo. And in the duration of the time it took for her wings to heal, she'd instigated about ten more fights with the monkey. Even while Holiday was removing the wrappings from Talon's newly healed wings, Talon was bickering with him. Soon as Holiday released her, Talon snatched Bobo's hat right off his head.

"Hey! Give that back!" Bobo protested, reaching for the hat.

Talon held the hat just out of his reach. "You'll have to take it from me," she said tauntingly. When he jumped up to try and take the hat back, she leapt backwards and ran from him, making him work for it. But Bobo was surprisingly fast, and quickly overtook her. So, to keep the hat away from him still, she called forth her wings and leaped into the air, taunting him by hovering just beyond his reach. Then, for reasons unknown, she flew off in another direction, grabbing Rex to take along with her.

"Whoa! Talon, what are you doing?" Rex asked her, but she simply answered with a twittering giggle.

She took him to a peaceful, green meadow with a single tree standing tall, proud, and lonesome. Vibrant wildflowers interrupted the sea of beautifully green grass with bright splashes of color, and delicate pink blooms gently colored the darker green of the tree. A soft breeze brushed past, stirring the colors with the green and giving life to the picturesque scene. Talon set Rex down and climbed the tree in a few swift movements, making the task look easy. Rex followed in a somewhat clumsier fashion. Talon moved to climb higher, but Rex didn't want to allow her to. "Watch out, you might—" Rex started to say, but lost his words quite abruptly. She didn't struggle for balance as Rex would have, but instead remained gracefully upright, maintaining perfect balance as she bounced from branch to branch. "—fall," Rex finished lamely after witnessing Talon's evident grace.

Talon smiled down at him from the branch she perched on, about 10 feet above where Rex was. "Have you forgotten already?" she inquired, her sweet smile turning to teasing smirk. "I'm part _bird_. I've spent half my life in a tree. This is normal for me."

"Oh. Right." Boy, did Rex ever feel stupid.

Talon slinked back down the branches the way a snake slithers through sand, and sat next to Rex on one of the lower branches. Her smirk went from teasing back to a tender smile. She and Rex sat there on that branch for a while, lingering in and savoring the perfect, comfortable silence between them. Then that silence was broken with a shout of "Hey!" uttered by neither Rex nor Talon. Both glanced down to find Bobo, winded from running more than he ever had in probably his whole life, clamoring his way to where they were in stubborn pursuit of Talon and his hat.

"Gimme my hat back!" he shouted, climbing up the tree with determined speed.

"No, wait! Don't come up here!" Talon warned.

"Why the heck not? I want my hat back!" He edged his way to the branch on which Talon and Rex rested. Soon as he did, a loud crack sounded. The branch, unable to withstand the added stress of Bobo's weight along with Rex and Talon's, fractured, a visible crack appearing at its base. "Well, that ain't good . . ."

The branch gave way beneath them, and everyone fell to the ground to become a tangled mass of feathers, fur, and limbs. Talon was the first to extricate herself from the jumbled heap, dusting herself off and reaffirming her grip on Bobo's hat. Bobo was the next to get up, and he immediately lunged for his hat. Talon stepped to the side, avoiding his attack with that one simple motion, much like a professional bullfighter sidestepping a charging bull, not fazed in the least. Rex was the last to recover from the tumble, his body aching all over from being the one that ended up at the bottom of the unintentional dogpile.

Rex shook off his soreness and said, "That's the last time I'm ever getting in a tree with a half-EVO and a talking monkey!" At that comment, everyone collapsed into fits of laughter.

Talon tossed Bobo's hat back to him. "Here, take your stupid hat," she said snidely, though still laughing. And when he failed to catch the hat, she commented, "Try actually catching it next time, _monky-brain_."

Provoked by Talon's remark, he retorted, "Catch _this_, birdbrain!" and threw a fist in her direction, which she easily dodged and retaliated for with a swipe of her rapidly formed talons. The two wrestled and fought, but it was more in play than in anger. Rex laughed some more as he watched the comical scene unfold. But, as he continued to watch, a grave realization seared through his thoughts like a red-hot knife blade, singeing away his short-lived happiness: Talon had completely healed. Rex, as the agreement with White Knight stated, now had to cure Talon.

Rex broke up the fight and ensured that Bobo left, so he'd be alone with Talon. He didn't want any witnesses when he committed this moral crime. Bobo lost interest after he got his hat back, anyway, so he left without much provocation. Talon wandered the field, drinking in the breathtaking sight of the beautiful flowers and surveying the scene in a way she never had before. She knew this place as a bird, but then she didn't think to stop and take in the gorgeous landscape. Now that she was human, she could comprehend the concept of beauty, and identify this little meadow as "beautiful." Yes, it certainly was beautiful, and it filled her with the warm, bright light of happiness knowing that she could admire it as a human. Little did she know that she would soon lose that amazing gift to perceive and appreciate the world's natural beauty.

"Talon . . ." Rex started, getting her attention. But he couldn't think of the words to say. How was he to tell her that she was to soon lose her humanity?

"What is it, Rex?" Talon inquired.

"I . . ." Still, he was at a loss for words. He just didn't know how to tell her.

Talon sensed his turmoil, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Better to just tell it to her straight, Rex thought. Quick and straightforward, like ripping off a bandage to minimize the pain. "I have to cure you."

"What? N-No . . . No! I . . . I won't let you!" Talon backed away from him, now fearing his EVO-curing touch. She poised herself for defense, her legs bent in a low crouch, her fingers curling in anticipation of the transition from flesh to metal. Though, both she and Rex knew that she could never bring herself to hurt him, not on purpose.

"I'm sorry, but I have to." Rex took another step towards Talon, only for her to step backwards once more. "Please, just try to understand. White Knight's ordered me to cure you, so I have to. Or else . . . or else I lose everything. And then Providence'll probably kill you. But, I guess it's really your choice. Be cured, and live free . . . Or refuse, and die."

Talon rose from her defensive crouch and stepped tentatively towards Rex, her brow crinkled in thought. "I . . . When you put it that way, I . . . But, I want to stay human."

"You can't, not if you want to stay alive."

"B-But . . . I don't want to lose . . . all this . . ." Talon spread her arms out wide, as if to encompass her brief human life, and all the experiences that it entailed. Her emotions, her joy and her sorrow; being able to truly _see_ the world in all its beauty; her memory, able to recollect every single vivid detail of all the good and bad times she'd had. She didn't want to lose any of that. She wanted to spend the rest of her life as a human, with Rex and Holiday and Noah and all her human—not to mention one certain non-human—friends. She stood there a few minutes in catatonic shock before the information sank in and struck her brain with the force of a freight train. She was going to be a human no longer. She was going to lose everything she wanted to keep, with no other choice but losing her life. Stricken with sudden, overwhelming sadness, she fell to her knees and clung tightly to Rex as she wept her first-ever tears.

Rex was unsure how to react. He wanted to put his arms around her and comfort her, but he worried that she would shrink away from his touch, so he simply let her cry until she could cry no more. When Talon finally dried her eyes, she stood, looked at Rex with red-rimmed eyes . . .

. . . and hugged him. She embraced him tightly, apparently now oblivious to the fact that he could, at this close proximity, cure her at any given moment. She whispered into his ear, "This may be goodbye, but this isn't farewell."

What did that mean? Rex had no idea. He just knew that Talon was looking up at him with her storm cloud eyes, a surprising, but shaky smile gracing her lips. Talon gazed deeply into Rex's eyes, and got lost in their chocolate depths. She found herself leaning closer and closer to him, pulled forward by some unknown, subconscious force, then leaned closer still until her lips met his. And, after a moment of shocked inaction, Rex returned the gesture, kissing her back. She hadn't quite realized it, but she noticed that she liked this feeling of her lips on his. After a few seconds, she pulled away, an exhilerated gasp escaping her lips as they separated from Rex's. That was even better than flying, she thought.

Then, she said something that came from a hidden, deeply emotional part of her that even she never knew of, yet was there all along: "I love you, Rex."

"I . . ." How could he possibly respond to such a confession? He couldn't. So instead, he did what he probalby should have done the very moment they met. "I'm sorry!" His arms tightening around her from the turblent emotions roiling within him and to keep her from escaping, he initiated the action of curing her. Like every other time he cured an EVO, the glowing blue lines spread from his hands on her back to all throughout her body. The feathers that typically covered only her torso spread to cover her from head to toe. The bones in both her arms cracked with a series of sickening snaps as they hollowed, thinned, and rearranged themselves, long flight feathers emerging from what were now wings. As her long hair receded into her now feather-covered scalp, her nose and upper lip melded together into a hardening mass to join her solidifying and elongating lower lip in forming her beak. The joints in her legs bent suddenly backwards with a painful pop to better suit her avian form. Then her enitre body shrunk to below a foot high, and finally the deed was done. Rex had cured Talon.

Now not a person, but a hawk stood before Rex. And, though she now had no recollection of her time as a human, Talon the hawk yet lngered, seeming almost reluctant to leave. She stared up at Rex, and Rex saw that her eyes were the same as when she was human, steel-grey, two crackling storm clouds staring up at him. That fact only broke his heart all over again. "Go on!" he shouted, trying to scare her away before the ache in his heart became too much to bear. But still, she stayed, and Rex couldn't but wonder if Talon really didn't want to leave him, or if she was just being stubborn. He then had to remind himself that she was a bird now, and coldn't possibly remember him. "Go on, get out of here!" he tried again to scare her off. She only chirruped and tilted her head at him in a curious look. The gesture reminded Rex so much of the human girl he knew that it brought him to the verge of tears, and would surely lose it if this hawk didn't leave him alone soon. "GO AWAY!" he shouted, the words coming out louder than he intended, a result of being at the edge of his self-control.

But, regardless, it did the trick. Talon took to the skies, flying high up where she was born to be. She circled the sky above the meadow a few times before soaring off into the horizon with a last mournful cry.

When Rex couldn't see her elegant form anymore, the tears he'd been holding back broke through, pooling in his eyes. He already missed her cheerful giggle, her sweet smile, and her clear grey eyes. Teardrops spilled soundlessly down his face as he stared longingly at the point in the horizon where Talon vanished, never to be seen again.

"Good riddance!" Bobo said from his hiding place in the surrounding foliage, where he had watched the entire scene play out. Rex jumped and hastily wiped away his tears before turning around to face the annoying ape.

"Bobo! What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"You two were like some kind of bad soap opera—I just had to know how it ended!"

"Whatever, man. Just leave me alone, okay?"

"Look . . . I know how hard it must suck for you, but . . . uh . . ." For once in his life, Bobo was at a loss for words, because he _didn't_ know, and he had no idea how to console his friend.

"It's okay. I have a feeling . . . that we'll see her again someday . . ."

~END~

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And that's all she wrote! Or is it...? I may or may not do a sequel, but I might be a little more motivated if you lovely readers out there would review, hint hint.


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